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Browsing Tag: pasta
Tonight’s dinner is an Italian classic – spaghetti alla carbonara. This dish of few ingredients produces a wonderfully robust meal. Like Pasta all’Amatriciana and Pasta Putannesca, this recipe is about quality ingredients and timing. I used David Leite’s recipe from his blog Leite’s Culinaria. He has an engaging post about the origins of this dish – rumored to have been created by coal miners – so I’ll defer to his research and expertise on that subject. But I will dive into this dish with enthusiasm. Getting the timing right on this recipe is not as hard as you may think if we use a little trick when cooking the noodles. I used a large skillet instead of a…
What? Did I just hear a collected groan and harrumph of disbelief in being able to make a delicious lasagna for one? Well, you are partially correct. This recipe is perfect for two… or one with a nice serving as leftovers. Normally I do not like leftovers, but there are a few dishes I make exceptions for – goulash, schnitzel, and lasagna among my favorites. This recipe is a little more involved than my typical quick and easy style, but this dish deserves the extra effort. But in all honesty, the toughest part may be finding a small baking dish. I use a 7x5x1.5 (3 cup) size Pyrex baking dish. Once you have that small baking dish, just think of how wonderful it will be to…
Tonight’s dinner is a quick and tasty dish – easy to prepare and enjoy. In this recipe, I used the Parmesan and Black Pepper fresh ravioli from Buitoni which I think worked perfectly. The rest of the ingredients are just fresh sage leaves, garlic, unsalted butter, and grape tomatoes. I also added a bit of diced prosciutto and red pepper flakes to my version, which is optional but highly recommended. This dish comes together quickly with the ravioli taking a mere 7 minutes and the rest taking less than 15 minutes. Quick, easy and tasty… here’s a dish that works for a busy weeknight or a busy weekend. That alone must be the reason this dish is so popular on restaurant menus! Save…
Here is another Italian restaurant staple – pasta puttanseca. This dish’s claim to fame is its pungency and how that relates to its origin – i.e. puttanesca meaning ‘from the prostitutes’ or ‘in the style of the prostitutes’. It is rumored that the dish was favored by Italian prostitutes to keep their clients from trying to kiss them. A girl’s got to have some boundaries right? Well upon further research, it seems there is little written documentation about this dish prior to the middle of the 20th century. Which means pasta puttanesca may have been a simple dish made only at home and not seen as restaurant fare (or fare an upstanding diner would want to be seen eating…
Here is a pasta dish I believe will really satisfy you. This is a variant of a dish I posted in March – Tortellini with Prosciutto and Asparagus. The difference is perfect for summer – a basil sherry cream sauce. Using fresh basil is a must for this dish and the hardest part of this dish is timing all the parts. So take a chance and expand your repertoire with something new… like this dish! Save Print Tortellini in a Basil Sherry Cream Sauce Prep time: 30 mins Cook time: 15 mins Total time: 45 mins Serves: 1 Ingredients 2 oz prosciutto, diced 4½ oz fresh tortellini 5 oz asparagus, sliced into 1½ inch lengths ½ cup basil leaves, fresh…
Here is a dish that will bring fireworks to your taste buds, just in time for the Fourth of July. I have been meaning to make this dish for you, but sadly I keep pushing it down the list. Well, tonight is the night and I am doing it. I used Chef John’s recipe as a base, of course adjusting it for a single diner and tweaking it with part of the recipe from America’s Test Kitchen. The combination of the Chef John’s simplicity and ATK’s flavor boosting technique take this dish to new heights. The lip-smacking tingle of heat from the pepper, the slight smokiness from the paprika (my idea!), the sweetness from the tomatoes, the brightness from…
Tonight’s dinner is a simple and delicious pasta dish – pasta all’amatriciana. Basically this centruries old dish is a peasant meal of guanciale (cured pork jowl), tomatoes, chile, pasta and pecorino cheese from the Italian village of Amatrice. I researched numerous recipes for this dish and interestingly enough settled on the simplest and most authentic version according to the Food52 blog. The smoky flavor of the cured pork jowl, combined with the spiciness from the hint of chile, the sweetness from tomato and the nutty saltiness of Romano intermingle so well that this pasta dish is perfection. No onions, no garlic, no basil, oregano or fennel is needed, that is just how good this dish is. Traditionally made with bucatini, I opted for thin…
Ok, ok… I know it is a lame name for a homemade knock-off of that box meal Hamburger Helper™, but I thought it was appropriate to describe my twist. Packed with vegetables and balanced with meat, pasta and cheese, this meal is as hearty as it is simple to make. This recipe is for a one pan casserole with Italian flavors, but I can see many variations possible. So skip the box and cook with fresh ingredients to enjoy that same simple and hearty meal with no preservatives, artificial colors or flavorings. Are you up for the change? Then give this one a try! Save Print Hamburger Henchman Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 30 mins Total time: 45 mins Serves: 2…
Are you ready for another ‘comfort food’ dish? Tonight, I made spaghetti and meatballs. To fit the bill for comfort food and satisfy my hunger, I wanted the meatballs well seasoned and the sauce flavorful. For the meatballs, I used a mixture of beef and pork spiced with traditional Italian flavors of onion, garlic, parsley, basil and oregano. I then made a green pepper and fire roasted tomato sauce with sweetness from a grated carrot and a spicy hint of smoked paprika. This dish fires on all cylinders for me – tender and flavorful meatballs under a blanket of robust red sauce on a bed of thin spaghetti, accented with fresh parsley and Parmesan cheese. To be honest, I should have made this dish on a…
Tonight I paired my dinner with the Friday night cocktail, French 75, I made. So I opted to make a simple dish – prawns with asparagus in a sherry cream sauce served over capellini. Simple, rich, and delicately spiced, I figured this meal would accompany my Friday night cocktail superbly. And I was spot on, it did. So if you want a versatile prawn pasta dish, I suggest you give this one a try. With a few adjustments, you can change the flavor profile. Some adjustments that come to mind are adding lemon and/or capers, substituting spinach for the asparagus or chicken/scallops for the prawns, whisking in parmesan cheese for a quick alfredo style sauce, etc. Adjustments and tweaks like those are the things that keep…